GTA 5 gameplay footage YouTube policy outlined

With the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar has detailed which bits of GTA 5 you are and aren’t allowed to upload onto YouTube.

Rockstar explains that Take-Two Interactive does not object to fans uploading gameplay footage on YouTube, however, they do want to protect the story of the game and don’t want YouTube videos to “intentionally spoil the plot for others”.

So, in saying that, this is what you are not allowed to upload:

Pre-Release Footage: No pre-release leaked footage of any kind: Any posting of in-game footage from leaked copies of the game prior to its official release date will be taken down, regardless of how the game was obtained. This includes “early unboxing” videos.

Spoilers: Posting video showing the ending of the game, pure cutscenes or any other big reveal in the story. It’s okay to show cutscenes as part of a larger play-through (or in a narrated ‘Let’s Play’ type video) but isolated videos of the game’s cinematics will be removed. If you are unsure if what you want to post is considered a spoiler, please contact [email protected] and describe exactly what scene you are wondering about and in what context the scene would appear.

In-game Entertainment: Things like the TV shows and comedy performances in Grand Theft Auto IV, or the silent movies in Red Dead Redemption. We prefer fans to experience these in the context of the game’s world, so any posting of these in isolation will be flagged for removal.

Rockstar did say that they promote original GTA fan videos, as long as they’re not story spoilers.

“We’re happy for fans to upload footage of their gameplay – we love seeing machinima from our games and even share some of it with our fans on the Rockstar Newswire from time to time. We do have just a few guidelines that we ask you to follow if you are going to post or stream on video sharing sites,” said Rockstar.